What do John Steinbeck and Maya Angelou have in common? They're both among the great authors you'll encounter in VISIONS ACROSS THE AMERICAS: SHORT ESSAYS FOR COMPOSITION. This book presents 72 cross-cultural essays on such diverse themes as: Language and Culture; The Family; Americans and Immigrants; Racism, Sexism, and Ageism; and Technology, Cyberspace, and the Cosmos. An Irony and Humor theme has been added to this newest edition. Each chapter provides students with a blueprint for a specific type of essay, with pre- and post-reading questions and activities that reinforce an understanding of the rhetorical modes addressed in that chapter.